Mindfulness practice is often viewed as a relaxing experience that enables a person to view their thoughts, and the world around them, without judgment. But the practice can also be used to rise up against thoughts that hold us back.
I like to think of mindfulness meditation simply as a practice that enables us to notice things. One can notice feelings in their body, how their attention wanders and thoughts that tumble through their mind.
They can also notice that many of those thoughts are inaccurate. Especially the ones about themselves.
Tim Iglesias writes in the Southwest Law Journal that the goal of mindfulness is not to simply notice and experience the present moment. Instead, the practice can spark significant change. He writes:
"The goal of mindfulness meditation is to cultivate the capacity to be in the present moment when we want to, not to always and everywhere be in the present moment to the exclusion of ever considering the future (e.g. for planning) or the past (e.g. to reflect on and learn from my mistakes or successes)."
As mindfulness enables us to more accurately assess our thoughts and to carefully consider our experiences and our expectations, it can reveal where cultural attitudes toward mental illness, the stigma attached to it and the low expectations society holds for those of us with mental illness, hold us back and trap us in a cycle of poor mental health and dependency.
As we engage in contemplative practices we can resist these prejudices and adopt a mindset that allows us to overcome the incorrect definitions of people with mental illness that even we may have accepted and incorporated into our self image.
Iglesias positions this as a liberation of the mind. a practice that allows us to see our situation accurately, pause, and reconsider our place and potential. He continues:
We can then define the discomfort and move beyond the lack of resolution to formulate reasonable goals and overcome defeating cultural ideas that position those with mental illness as less dependable and less promising.
Don't just use mindfulness to experience the present. Use it to discover what has haunted your past and what you can truly expect for your future, without the ill-informed opinions of others that throw chains around your mind. And your potential.
As mindfulness enables us to more accurately assess our thoughts and to carefully consider our experiences and our expectations, it can reveal where cultural attitudes toward mental illness, the stigma attached to it and the low expectations society holds for those of us with mental illness, hold us back and trap us in a cycle of poor mental health and dependency.
As we engage in contemplative practices we can resist these prejudices and adopt a mindset that allows us to overcome the incorrect definitions of people with mental illness that even we may have accepted and incorporated into our self image.
Iglesias positions this as a liberation of the mind. a practice that allows us to see our situation accurately, pause, and reconsider our place and potential. He continues:
"Apart from the complex issue of whether or not mindfulness meditation assumes, incorporates or naturally develops the laudable ideals of compassion, love or empathy, it is not a value-free practice because it does inherently incorporate several value choices or determinations. Specifically, it includes the choice to live (at least temporarily) with discomfort and lack of resolution."
We can then define the discomfort and move beyond the lack of resolution to formulate reasonable goals and overcome defeating cultural ideas that position those with mental illness as less dependable and less promising.
Don't just use mindfulness to experience the present. Use it to discover what has haunted your past and what you can truly expect for your future, without the ill-informed opinions of others that throw chains around your mind. And your potential.
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